What Foods Support Prostate Health

What Helps Prostate HealthYou may think Kegels are just for women. But these exercises, which strengthen the muscles in your pelvic region, can help control incontinence in men who have the condition from surgery to treat prostate cancer or an enlarged prostate.

Brazil nuts are not only a good source of vital nutrients like vitamin E and calcium, they’re also full of the mineral selenium. A 2010 study suggests that selenium along with soy may help fight prostate cancer, though more research is still needed.

Eating Italian-style foods, like pizza and pasta, may help you incorporate more tomato-based foods into your diet. Focus on Italian-style foods that use a tomato base, like spaghetti Bolognese or a caprese salad.

Are Nuts Good For Prostate Health

Investigators have launched a federally funded national study to see whether a diet that's higher in plant-based foods and lower in animal-based foods than the typical Western diet will help control tumor growth in men with early-stage prostate cancer.

While more research needs to be done in the area of diet and prostate cancer, there is evidence to suggest that certain foods may help reduce your risk for the disease. It’s a good idea to check in with your doctor before making changes to your diet, especially if you’re receiving treatment for prostate cancer, as certain foods may interact with different drugs and therapies. For example, some supplements that are high in antioxidants (e.g., pomegranate extract) may counteract the effects of radiation therapy. Therefore, you should avoid supplements with high levels of antioxidants during radiation treatment. That said, most of the items on this list are whole foods. Eating them is part of a healthy lifestyle and, at very least, may help you feel your best.

What's Best For Prostate Health

Green tea is a beverage that has been consumed for thousands of years. It has traditionally been a large part of peoples’ diets in Asian countries. It’s not clear if green tea is the reason why prostate cancer rates in Asia are so much lower than in the United States. However, components of green tea are being studied for their effects on health.

Prostate Health Index Test

This clinical trial will include men 50-80 years old who have small, low-grade tumors and who have opted to have their condition followed closely (active surveillance) rather than undergoing immediate treatment. Researchers will randomly assign participants to telephone counseling about how to achieve the dietary MEAL goals or to a control group that receives standard dietary advice for Americans.

For more on new options for treating prostate cancer, and to learn about advances in the diagnosis and treatment of prostate cancer and other prostate conditions, buy the Annual Report on Prostate Diseases, a Special Health Report from Harvard Medical School.

In the summer months, you can buy fresh, local tomatoes to slice atop sandwiches and chop into salads. Drinking plain tomato juice each morning is another good option, just make sure to pick a low-sodium variety.

Prostate Health Complex

Another study from Harvard shows that physically active men are less likely than inactive men to have BPH. Even low- to moderate-intensity physical activity, such as walking regularly at a moderate pace, delivers big benefits.

Keeping extra pounds off will “help minimize and reverse lower urinary tract symptoms [linked to an enlarged prostate] and will lower your prostate cancer risk,” he says. “In general, anything that is heart-healthy is prostate-healthy.”

While there’s still a need for more conclusive research, the preliminary research reported by the National Cancer Institute shows a link between the consumption of soy and reduced levels of prostate-specific antigen (PSA). PSA is a protein produced by your prostate. The PSA test measures the level of PSA in your blood and is used as a screening test for prostate cancer. This research also seemed to indicate soy was more effective when it was eaten in combination with other cancer-fighting foods.

Tomatoes contain a powerful antioxidant called lycopene. It may help prevent prostate cancer as well as reduce tumor growth among men with prostate cancer. Further research is needed to confirm a benefit, but in one review of 11 studies, researchers found a trend suggesting that men who ate more tomatoes and tomato-based products, both raw and cooked, may be less likely to develop prostate cancer.

You can buy pomegranate juice at most grocery stores. If drinking it plain is too intense for you, consider diluting it with plain water or adding some sparkling water. You can also add it to homemade salad dressing to sweeten up your favorite salad.

Participants in the Men's Eating and Living (MEAL) study will try to eat nine servings of fruits and vegetables daily — significantly more than the three to four servings consumed each day by the typical American man — as well as two servings of whole grains and one serving of beans or other legumes.

How To Check Prostate Health

Research suggests that lycopene may help lower prostate cancer risk. Lycopene can be found in foods like tomatoes, apricots, pink grapefruit, guava, and papaya. There’s about 9 to 13 milligrams of lycopene in a cup and a half of watermelon.

Healthy fats like those found in nuts can help lower your cholesterol and promote brain health. “Nuts are one of the best go-to snacks. They’re portable, convenient, and give you a lot of bang for your buck,” says Mohr.

To add more legumes and soybeans to your diet, consider eating a vegetarian diet for one day each week. Some people try what is called a Meatless Monday. This way, you can replace meat with the protein from beans.

Legumes, such as beans, peanuts, and lentils, contain biologically active plant compounds known as phytoestrogens. Isoflavones are one such phytoestrogen. They may contain cancer-fighting properties. This could suppress tumor growth in prostate cancer cells.

Black beans, for example, pack a lot of nutritional punch. Just one cup has about 15 grams of protein and 15 grams of fiber, which may promote prostate health. Hemp and chia seeds, on the other hand, have roughly 5 grams of protein per ounce. Hemp seeds also contain all essential amino acids, while chia seeds contain about 10 grams of fiber per ounce.

Can Diet Help Fight Prostate Cancer?

In a review published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, researchers found a link between eating fish and a reduced mortality rate from prostate cancer. Try eating fatty fish found in cold waters to increase your omega-3 intake. These include:

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Most adults should aim to get two servings (one serving is 3.5 ounces) of omega-3 rich fish a week. Worried about mercury in your fish? Anchovies, herring, sardines, and freshwater trout are good sources of omega-3s with lower levels of mercury.

“Beans can be added to a salad or used to replace traditional meat on a burrito or wrap, and hemp and chia can be used on oatmeal, shakes, and Greek yogurt,” says Mohr. Most adult men should aim to get about 38 grams of fiber and 56 grams of protein per day.

What Promotes Prostate Health

A recent study found that men with physically demanding jobs were less likely to develop benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH, or enlargement of the prostate) than men with desk jobs. Men who found time for 5 or more hours of exercise a week (just under an hour a day), whether job-related or for fun, were 30% to 50% less likely to develop BPH than those who exercised fewer than 2 hours a week.

You don’t want undue pressure on the groin if you have BPH, erectile dysfunction, or prostatitis (inflammation of the prostate), says Garnick. “Bike riding is 180 to 200 pounds sitting on [that] little gland.”

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How exactly do tomatoes help? Lycopene may decrease cell damage and slow cancer cell production. But because lycopene is tightly bound to cell walls, our bodies have a difficult time extracting it from raw tomatoes. Cooked or pureed tomato products may be better options. Look to products like these:

So what’s a quick easy way to whip up a healthy vitamin-C rich snack? Dr. Mohr recommends blending a variety of berries and greens into a smoothie with milk and protein powder. “Blueberries, banana, milk, protein powder, peanut butter, and ice is a perfect smoothie with lots of flavor and nutrition but simple to make.”

Broccoli is a vegetable that contains many complex compounds that may help protect some people from cancer. Some studies suggest there’s a link between the amount of cruciferous vegetables you eat and your prostate cancer risk. The reasons why are still unclear, but researchers propose that one of the phytochemicals found in these vegetables, called sulforaphane, selectively targets and kills cancer cells while leaving normal prostate cells healthy and unaffected.

Wild Harvest Prostate Health With Lycopene

Berries like strawberries, blackberries, and raspberries are high in vitamin C and antioxidants. Antioxidants play an important role in the body as they prevent damage from free radicals, molecules that attack healthy cells and can contribute to cancer risk. Vitamin C may also help ease benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) symptoms by promoting urination and reducing swelling.

This staple of summertime eating is fat-free, sodium-free, and high in vitamins A and C. Watermelon is also an excellent source of lycopene, the antioxidant that gives whole foods like tomatoes and watermelons their color.

Much like red wine or green tea, pomegranate is a rich source of antioxidants. It’s been touted as a “miracle fruit” in preventing chronic diseases related prostate supplement to oxidative stress. Scientists think the antioxidant found in pomegranate works in a “seek and destroy” method, exclusively targeting the prostate cancer cells and not the healthy cells. Studies have found evidence that pomegranate juice and extract hinder the production of different prostate cancer cells, though more research is needed.

Although the obvious way to consume green tea is to brew and enjoy it, there are other ways to get your fix. Try these recipes for iced mint green tea and green tea rice. Other ways to enjoy green tea include adding it to a smoothie or using it to create a marinade.

Polyunsaturated fats, like omega-3s and omega-6s, are essential fatty acids found exclusively in the diet. They’re not synthesized by the body. The traditional Western diet has a lot of omega-6 fatty acids but not many omega-3s. Having a healthier balance of omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids may help prevent the development and progression of prostate cancer.

There’s about 90 milligrams of vitamin C in one cup of strawberries and about 14 mg in one cup of blueberries. Other great sources of vitamin C include citrus fruits, cantaloupe, spinach, broccoli, and mangos. For most adult men, 90 milligrams of vitamin C is recommended daily.

How To Improve Prostate Health Naturally

There’s no definitive evidence that good nutrition can prevent prostate problems, but eating a healthy balanced diet may reduce your risk. “Building a meal and snack around veggies and fruit is a smart idea for health in general, and particularly a healthy prostate,” says Chris Mohr, PhD, RD, nutrition expert for New York Times bestseller LL Cool J’s Platinum Workout and advisory board member for Men’s Fitness magazine.